Questions Raised Over St. Tammany Mandatory Reporter Training Timeline After Lyon Elementary Case

Questions are being raised about the timing of mandatory reporter training within St. Tammany Parish Public Schools after a Louisiana educator said faculty members received an email on September 4 directing employees to complete mandatory reporter training by September 30.

The timing is significant because Louisiana law requires teaching and child care providers covered by the statute to complete the state provided mandatory reporter training annually between June 1 and August 31.

The law then requires each employing entity to submit information to the Louisiana Department of Education by September 30 identifying employees who completed the training and those who did not.

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At this point, there is no evidence establishing that St. Tammany Parish Public Schools as a district failed to comply with the law. The September 4 communication does, however, raise an important question: How many district employees had actually completed the required training by the August 31 deadline?

What Louisiana Law Requires

Louisiana law requires teaching and child care providers to complete an online training course provided by the Department of Children and Family Services between June 1 and August 31 each year.

The definition of teaching or child care provider is broad and includes teachers, teacher aides, instructional aides, principals, school staff members, bus drivers, coaches and others involved in the teaching, training or supervision of children.

Employees are required to provide a record showing completion of the training to the entity where they work.

By September 30, each employing entity must then submit a list to the Louisiana Department of Education identifying its teaching and child care providers and indicating which employees complied with the training requirement and which did not.

The Department of Education is also required to publish completion rates for each entity.

That distinction is important.

September 30 is the deadline for the school system to report employee compliance to the state. August 31 is the statutory deadline for covered employees to complete the annual training.

September 4 Email Raises Questions

St. Tammany Parish educator Mercedes Schneider published what she described as an email sent to faculty members on September 4.

According to the communication she published, employees were directed to complete mandatory reporter training by September 30.

If authentic and representative of district instructions, the email was sent four days after the completion period established in state law had ended.

The existence of the email alone does not establish how many St. Tammany employees had already completed the training before August 31.

Some employees may have completed the requirement earlier. Others may have received previous reminders or instructions before the deadline.

Those numbers are not currently clear.

What the communication does create is a straightforward accountability question that can ultimately be answered with records: How many St. Tammany Parish Public Schools employees completed mandatory reporter training by August 31, and how many remained incomplete afterward?

Timing Comes During Lyon Elementary Fallout

The issue comes at a particularly sensitive time for the school system.

Former Lyon Elementary administrators Lauryn Faciane and Tanya Barth recently pleaded guilty to charges involving the failure to report child abuse.

The case has led to intense public scrutiny over mandatory reporting procedures within the St. Tammany Parish school system.

Following the release of additional information surrounding the Lyon Elementary case, parents and community members packed a special School Board meeting demanding answers about district procedures and accountability.

School Board President Amanda Martin subsequently announced that the board will consider hiring an independent firm to evaluate every school site as well as the district’s central office.

The proposed investigation would examine compliance with administrative procedures, communications and mandatory reporting requirements, with findings ultimately provided to the School Board.

The board is expected to consider the proposal at its October 8 meeting.

Questions That Can Be Answered

The mandatory reporter training issue does not require speculation.

There are specific numbers the district should eventually be able to provide.

How many employees were required to complete mandatory reporter training for the 2026 school year?

How many completed it by August 31?

How many had not completed it by that date?

Were employees instructed before August 31 that the training had to be completed during the state mandated June through August period?

Why did the September 4 communication reportedly reference September 30 as the completion deadline?

And what compliance numbers will St. Tammany Parish Public Schools submit to the Louisiana Department of Education before the September 30 reporting deadline?

Those answers would help determine whether the September email was simply a late reminder to a relatively small number of employees or evidence of a larger problem with how the requirement was communicated or enforced.

The distinction matters.

At a time when St. Tammany Parish Public Schools is already facing heightened scrutiny over mandatory reporting, transparency surrounding the district’s own mandatory reporter training numbers could provide parents and the public with a much clearer picture of whether required procedures were being followed.

TRH News will continue following the issue as additional information becomes available.